Orthotomus samarensis Steere, List Birds & Mams. Steere
Exped. (1890), 20; Grant, Ibis (1897), 228; Whitehead, Ibis
(1899), 220 (habits); Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 192; McGregor
and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 88.
Bohol (McGregor); Leyte (Whitehead); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester, Whitehead).
Adult male.--Entire head, neck, chin, throat, and middle of fore
breast black; back and rump dull olive-green brighter around the neck;
rump and tail-coverts dull russet-brown; wing-feathers blackish, edged
with olive-green, the bend of wing and tips of greater median coverts
yellow; rectrices brown, edged with russet; breast, sides of breast,
and of neck, and abdomen lemon-yellow becoming olivaceous on sides,
flanks, and crissum; thighs dull chestnut. The black of fore breast is
sharply defined against the yellow, and does not extend over the sides
of the chest as it does in O. nigriceps, but is confined to the central
parts of the chest, its posterior outline being rounded. All the
specimens known have more or less white on the chin and malar region,
but this is variable in extent and is probably a sign of immaturity as
it is in O. nigriceps. A male from Bohol measures: Length, 127; wing,
44; tail, 39; culmen from base, 15; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 21.
The female is unknown.
"Iris light brown; bill brownish black, mandible pinkish brown; legs
yellowish flesh-color. This bird has a sweet and powerful song and
in this respect it differs from the other species. It is very shy
and difficult to obtain." (Whitehead.)
"The yellow-breasted tailorbird is extremely rare. A single specimen
was secured by the Steere Expedition, and we were able to secure
but one more. Both birds were shot in deep forest close to the
bank of a stream. Our specimen, a male, measures: Length, 114;
wing, 42.6; tail, 40; culmen, 19; tarsus, 21; middle toe with claw,
18. Iris chocolate-brown; legs, feet, and nails very light brown;
bill black. Breeding in August." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus CISTICOLA Kaup, 1829.
Bill small, slender, and sharply pointed; culmen gently curved in its
terminal half; bill from nostril equal to hind-toe without claw; wing
somewhat rounded and flat; difference between the length of primaries
and of secondaries less than first primary; first primary slender,
much less than one-half the second, the latter nearly as long as third;
fourth and fifth equal and longest; rectrices long, much graduated,
their tips rounded; the tail is similar to that of Orthotomus, but
the feathers are much wider; tarsus and feet well developed, the
outstretched toes reaching to or beyond tip of tail. Birds of this
genus present puzzling seasonal changes of plumage. The tail is longer
in the winter than in the breeding season, and the female is somewhat
smaller than the male. The seasonal variation in color is great and
has led ornithologists to name several species which do not exist. It
is not certain that the smaller species found in the Philippines is
really C. exilis, and it may be either C. erythrocephala Jerdon or
C. semirufa Cabanis. [77]
Species.
a1. Larger, wing and tail longer; breeding male with top of head
ocherous-buff, streaked with blackish brown, and with tail about 40
mm. ... cisticola (p. 580)
a2. Smaller, wing and tail shorter, breeding male with top of head
golden buff or tawny, and tail about 30 mm. ... exilis (p. 581)